Sarah Morgan - Careers Interview 2009

August 1, 2009 by timkilleen

Name, Age:  
Sarah Morgan, 31

Current Position(s):
On maternity leave from World Vision UK where I have been working since January 2007 as programme officer and health / nutrition advisor to the Humanitarian and Emergency affairs team.

My current role involves:

• Developing World Vision international’s global health strategy, which takes a public health approach to addressing mother and child health

• Member of World Vision’s global Community based management of acute malnutrition rollout team, undertaking the rollout of this relatively new approach to combating severe acute malnutrition  

•Assessing, reviewing and developing health and nutrition programming for World Vision UK

• Technical support and advice on health and nutrition issues to WVUK staff

• Short term deployments to the field for technical support to World Vision health and nutrition programmes

• Day to day programme management as programme officer for World Vision UK’s Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Pakistan programmes

Relevant Past Positions: 

2002 – 2004 Working for the International Medical Relief Charity 'Medair' in Afghanistan.

Work Undertaken Included:
       
•Medical coordinator for all Medair’s Medical programmes in Afghanistan and head of medical department of 5 expat and 30 local staff.

•Management and clinical supervision of TB and rural health care programmes.

•Training of Afghan medical professionals

•Collecting and analysing programme statistics, reporting on programme activities, proposal writing, and communication with donors.

•Liaison with ministries, UN, community and local leaders and other aid agencies.

•Providing medical care for expat and Afghan staff and for staff of other agencies

2006 Volunteer working for Merlin in the head office in London.

Work Undertaken Includes:

•Working along side Health Advisors and Policy Team on specific packages of work.

•Undertaking background health needs assessment research on Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast

•Completing a review of Merlin’s position on mental health and psychosocial programming and suggesting future direction.

•Revising Merlin’s HIV and Post Exposure Prophylaxis Policy

•Researching other organisations national staff health policies.

•Undertaking other urgent tasks as needed to support the Health Advisors in implementing programmes.

In the UK completed PRHO jobs in 2000 / 2001 followed by 6 months as A&E SHO 2001/ 2002 and undertook 21/2 years of psychiatry training as SHO 2004 – 2006.

Relevant Education:  

Year long part time Conflict and Catastrophe Medicine course at the Society of Apothecaries in London leading to a Diploma in Medical care of Catastrophes (Dip MCC)

Currently taking Msc in International child health at UCL on part time flexible basis.

Which of the above have been most useful and necessary to achieve progress in the field of international health?

Gaining good overseas field experience is vital if you want to work with most of the big overseas agencies. It can be a ‘catch 22’ trying to gain this experience, as even small agencies seem to want some prior overseas experience before they will place you overseas. Taking a voluntary position for the first year with Medair helped me get on the first rung of the ladder.

Many agencies are also keen for you to have a relevant international health post graduate qualification other than basic MBChB / UK memberships. Completing the Diploma in the medical care of catastrophes part time whilst a psychiatry SHO was a useful move for me. I am now taking a part time masters at UCL, as for me to move any further in the international health world this seems essential.

What personal qualities, skills and experience have been useful to you in the field of international health?

Flexibility and adaptability, ability for self directed and on the job learning, determination, sensitivity for cross cultural working, sense of humour and an ability to switch off and not become overwhelmed by the circumstances around you.

What, in your opinion, are the rewards and challenges about work related to international health?

The biggest reward for me is that even the little you can do often makes a big difference to those you are working with.

The biggest challenge is often the frustration that there is so much need and you can’t fix everything and that frequently politics, funding and other ‘trivial’ issues get in the way of delivering simple health solutions.

What advice would you give to someone aspiring to work in the field of international health?

If you feel that this field is for you then you need to take the plunge and go for it – this can be a risk as you may have to give up training jobs and security at home to get overseas experience. In my experience however if you are a decent doctor you will get back into training in the UK. I feel I made the right decision in doing a longish spell of field work early on before I had too many ties such as a mortgage and kids and wasn’t too far into UK training.

What are your ambitions for the future?

As I am expecting my first child I am planning to be a bit more UK based for the next few years and hope to finish some higher training by getting onto ST training in public health in the next recruitment round.

Any further comments / advice?

There are so many different career paths in this field and no set direction you need to take. I have found it useful to chat to as many others as possible who have taken different paths to work out how best I should navigate my own career.
 

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